


Playing the Long Game

by Kattythingz



Series: Rivalshipping Week 2020 [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Brotherhood, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Mokuba is a little shit, Post-Canon, Rivalshipping Week 2020, Yugi is no better don't let him fool you, just general yugi and kaiba brother cuteness honestly, post-dsod, rivalshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:35:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28400055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kattythingz/pseuds/Kattythingz
Summary: Day 5:Domestic/Homeand/or Watching a Movie“No way,” Mokuba mock-gasps. Sitting back up, he points at Seto and cries, “You’re aworkaholic?All these years, you’ve beenlyingto me? Your own brother?”“Mokuba.”“Thepain,” he grabs at his chest. “I’m hurt, Seto. I thought you trusted me!”“Yeah,Seto,” Yugi pipes in, a grin audible in his voice. “Look what you did. Your ownbrother.”“You’re both acting like children,” Seto pinches the bridge his nose. “Don’t you have better things to do than bother me?”OR: Seto is working late again, which means it’s time for Mokuba and Yugi to keep him company (read: nag him) until he gives up. Ft. Tired but happy Seto and little shits Yugi and Mokuba.
Relationships: Kaiba Mokuba & Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Mokuba & Mutou Yuugi, Kaiba Seto/Mutou Yuugi
Series: Rivalshipping Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075703
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48
Collections: Rivalshipping Week 2020





	Playing the Long Game

**Author's Note:**

> I might not have done day 4, but I did implement hints of its prompts in this one, so does that still count? Either way, ENJOY!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH.

Growing up with Seto means a lot of things to Mokuba. It means having infinite patience. It means having an amazing older brother. It means being intimately familiar with anything white and blue. 

It also means having a list for _everything_ , like unfinished tasks, soon-to-be-fired employees, unused duel disk ideas, and, Mokuba’s favorite, Strategies That Don’t Work Against Yugi Mutou. And don’t even get him _started_ on the sub-lists of that list! While it does have the expected dueling strategies, Mokuba’s found some pretty weird categories in there; only his brother would need a list for _C_ _onversation_ and _Begrudging Cooperation_. 

No, seriously. It’s a very real and very funny list that actually exists. Mokuba’s pretty sure he could have cooked an egg with the amount of heat on Seto’s face when his reaction was breaking into hysterical laughter. 

But he digresses. 

“And with that, your life points drop to two-hundred,” Yugi declares, because he’s dramatic like that.

“Oh, come on!” Mokuba groans. “That was one of my best monsters!”

“I’m not done yet,” Yugi smiles, and Mokuba can see the hidden amusement in his eyes. “My Black Magician hasn’t attacked yet this round.”

“Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes. I attack your life points directly!”

“Darn,” Mokuba pouts, slumping against the arm of the couch. “Your win. Again.”

“Hey, you said to go all out,” Yugi shrugs, not looking the least bit sorry. Peeking through his bangs, he teases, “Go again?”

“I think I’ve had enough, thanks,” Mokuba sighs. 

Yugi laughs, collecting his cards. “You got anything else in mind? It’ll be awhile before Seto is done with work.”

“While you’re at it,” someone interjects dryly, “Can you go ahead and move this somewhere else? I want to work in _peace_.”

“No can do, Seto!” Leaning back until he’s upside down, Mokuba shoots the disgruntled Seto a grin. “Who will stop you from working until god-knows-when if we’re not here?”

“The only reason I work that late is _because_ of you two,” Seto sighs.

Yugi coughs just in time to cover up his laugh. “ _Right._ It’s not because you’re a workaholic or anything.”

“No way,” Mokuba mock-gasps. Sitting back up, he points at Seto and cries, “You’re a _workaholic_? All these years, you’ve been _lying_ to me? Your own brother?”

“Mokuba.”

“The _pain_ ,” he grabs at his chest. “I’m _hurt_ , Seto. I thought you trusted me!”

“Yeah, _Seto_ ,” Yugi pipes in, a grin audible in his voice. “Look what you did. Your own _brother_.”

“You’re both acting like children,” Seto pinches the bridge of his nose. “Don’t you have better things to do than bother me?”

“Do you want me to lie to you?” Yugi grins. “Because I can.”

“No, you can’t,” Seto rolls his eyes. “You’re more transparent than glass.”

“Hey!” Yugi pouts.

“He’s not wrong,” Mokuba points out. 

“Whose side are you on, Mokie?” Yugi huffs.

“Don’t call me that!” He frowns. “Who even told you about-” His eyes widen, and he whirls around to face Seto. “ _You_!”

“Me,” Seto deadpans, his expression flat except for the amused glint in his eyes.

“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be?” Mokuba crosses his arms. He searches through his memory for anything to wipe the amusement off his brother’s face. Then, a slow smile crosses his lips. “Hey, Yugi?”

“Yeah?” 

“You remember that time Seto wiped the floor with one of his employees and then fired him the next day?” Mokuba maintains eye-contact with Seto as he says this, and the way his lips form a small scowl is _so_ worth it. 

“What about him?” Yugi asks in confusion.

“ _Well,_ ” he smirks, “As it turns out, Seto didn’t do that just because that guy was selling us out. He also did it because he was _jealous_.”

“Jealous?” Yugi blinks. “Um, of what, exactly?”

“The whole office knew about him flirting with you, you know?” Mokuba glances back at Yugi. “Seto heard about it, and reacted oh-so-maturely.”

Seto lets out a low, strangled noise, and Mokuba doesn’t even try to hide his delight at the reaction. He strains his ear for any hint of a reaction from Yugi, but there’s just silence.

Seto parts his lips, probably worried he’d upset Yugi and wanting to explain himself, but snaps them shut a second later as the sound of quiet giggling fills the room. Twin sets of blue eyes shift their gaze to Yugi, who’s trying to muffle the sound behind his hand. Noticing the attention, he stops his efforts and lets out his laughter. 

Yugi’s delight is contagious, and it raises a smile to Mokuba’s lips. He doesn’t even need to look at Seto to know that he’s reacting similarly. 

“I’m sorry,” Yugi chuckles. “It’s just… so _cute_.”

That’s not exactly how Mokuba would describe Seto, but then again, it might just be because he’s his brother. Yugi is his _boyfriend_ , so he probably sees some things differently than Mokuba.

“ _Cute?”_ Seto utters, a brilliant red coloring his cheeks.

“No wonder you took me out for dinner the day after that,” Yugi shakes his head. “You could’ve just told me, you know?”

“And have you laugh at me like you’re doing now?” Seto grumbles, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

“Can you blame me? You’re like a kid in a schoolyard,” Yugi laughs. “How did I never see it before?”

Yugi wouldn’t be the first person to miss that. Many before him have tried to get close to his brother, but none of them got far enough to recognize the better parts of his brother. Rather, they didn’t _care_ to see the better parts. Yugi is the first person in a long, long time to see the good in Seto, and that’s exactly why Mokuba considers Yugi one of the coolest people he’s ever met.

“Seto is just shy about these things,” Mokuba grins, because it would be a crime not to make a jab at Seto with this golden opportunity.

“Shy is an understatement,” Yugi muses. “But I can’t think of a better word, so that works.”

“You’re both fired,” Seto hisses, turning to look at his computer screen. The blush never leaves his face, which is an astounding feat considering how quickly his brother usually recovers. 

“Uh-huh,” Mokuba rolls his eyes. 

“Seto, you need new threats,” Yugi teases. “Those are out of style.” 

“Just get out of my office,” Seto sighs, even as a small smile crosses his lips.

“Nope!” Mokuba cheerily refuses. Turning to Yugi, he asks, “Wanna try chess now? I’ve been working on a strategy that’ll destroy you!”

“I’d like to see you _try_.”

The ever-present sound of typing acts as a familiar background noise as Yugi and Mokuba set up the chessboard on the couch space between them. Done with his side, Mokuba glances up at Yugi, taking in the way his eyes sparkled with excitement. 

No one’s ever been this genuine with Mokuba when it came to chess, or anything at all, really. To Mokuba and Seto, chess is a sacred game they’d grown up playing together, and it continued to be their first choice of game whenever they had the time to indulge in a round for years. And here Yugi is, unknowingly taking part in something so, so important to Mokuba.

Yugi is definitely worthy of his title as the second Coolest Person Ever in Mokuba’s life, falling short under Seto, who will always be his number one. 

How fitting for both of his top two to be in love. Even if they don’t know it yet.

“Since you got white, you’re first,” Yugi says, crossing his legs and settling in for a long game.

With a happy heart and a sunny smile, Mokuba plays his move.

* * *

Seto heaves a loud sigh as he powers off his desktop. It had taken him a good chunk of the night, but he finally fixed the glitch in the system codes. As soon as he tracks down the idiot that did this… 

“Mokuba,” Seto calls, “Can you bring me that list of employees?”

Silence. 

Moving his eyes to the couch, whatever he was going to say dies on his lips as a chuckle replaces it. Lying on the couch, sound asleep and snoozing, are the two menaces that refused to leave Seto alone through the night. Yugi is lying on his back, resting his head on the arm of the couch with one of his legs hanging off the edge of the seat. Mokuba seems to be using Yugi as a mattress as he cuddles into Yugi’s chest.

The sight fills his chest with warmth, spreading through his whole body and making its way to his face in the form of a smile. 

Standing up from his chair, he stretches out the kinks in his back and tilts his head until he hears that satisfying crack in his neck. He walks toward the couch, ready to wake them up, but something stops him.

Maybe it’s the way Mokuba finally looks relaxed compared to all the other times he’s fallen asleep on the couch, or maybe it’s the way Yugi fits into the image so perfectly, like he’s always belonged there. Either way, seeing the content, peaceful expressions on their faces sparks a joy in his heart that he has denied himself for a long, long time. 

He leans down to wake up Mokuba first, but he stirs before Seto can even touch him. Blinking blearily up at Seto, he mumbles, “Seto?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” He answers softly. “Time for bed.”

“We lost, didn’t we?” Mokuba pouts, sitting up gently to not disturb Yugi. 

“If it makes you feel better,” Seto smirks, “You lasted longer than I expected.” 

Mokuba groans, getting off the couch. “So we lost.”

“You can linger about your defeat in your bed,” Seto jokes, exhaling a laugh when Mokuba shoots him a sleepy glare.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mokuba waves a dismissive hand. He walks to the door but stops when his hand touches the knob. “Hey, Seto?”

“What is it?” He asks, catching the odd lilt in Mokuba’s voice.

“I’m glad you worked things out with Yugi,” He smiles. And before Seto can respond to that, he exits through the door.

The door clicks shut, and Seto is left alone in the silence, the only sound accompanying him being the soft breathing of his boyfriend. He turns back to Yugi, taking in the rise and fall of his chest. Unable to help himself, he kneels beside the couch. Lifting a tentative hand, he brushes aside Yugi’s bangs and caresses his cheek. 

Despite having grown, there was still quite a bit of baby fat in Yugi’s cheeks. Seto used to sneer at the thought of them, because how could he lose to someone that looks like a _child?_ But now, that touch of innocence only adds to his charm, and he’s found that it suits him perfectly. 

Yugi is a kind soul with a heart of gold, and his looks reflect that, but he is by no means naïve or stupid. One look into those big, bright eyes tells Seto all he needs to know: Yugi is not naïve, he just sees the good in everyone. No matter how terrible, no matter how mean, Yugi will always find something worth loving underneath the thorns. It’s just his nature. 

Seto smiles, his heart skipping a beat in his chest. _I’m glad, too, Mokuba_.

He shakes his head, focusing back on the task at hand. Seto _could_ shake Yugi awake, but that would mean taking away the soft expression on his lover’s face. Making up his mind, Seto maneuvers his arms under Yugi’s knees and back and lifts him into his arms. 

Yugi shifts for a moment but doesn’t wake up and just nuzzles closer to Seto’s chest. Feeling his cheeks warm at that, he adjusts Yugi into a more comfortable position and makes his way to the door. 

_Looks like I’ll have to share my bed again_ , Seto muses.

Yugi feels rather nice in his arms, anyway. So, with a feeling of quiet content in his heart, Seto makes his way out of the office and starts the journey toward his— _their_ —bedroom.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr (kattythingz) for more of my work owo


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